Shadows of Brightwater

Daruna the Wise

Description:

Daruna is tall, athletic, and imposing. She has tan skin and almost always has a severe expression on her face. She wears robes, usually red, and a variety of magic items on her person. Her black hair is just starting to show a few strands of silver.

Bio:

Called “the greatest wizard of her generation,” Daruna first showed talent for the arcane at the age of nine. Her father, a wealthy scroll merchant from Raelheim, had forbid her from studying so young for fear of the danger uncontrolled magic poses, but she stole a spellbook and began practicing in secret. It didn’t take long for her to master several cantrips and even a few higher-level spells. Her skill could not be denied.

She both studied and later taught at the Arcane Academy in Llaedry, but her real education began at the feet of the Astral Deva Zahir, messenger of the god Baccob. She claims that this angelic creature appeared to her when she was only 23 years old (and already a professor at the Academy) and offered to teach her magic on the celestial planes. She returned to the world 20 years later and immediately set up her tower just outside of [Brightwater]. Cresn, a lesser angel from the higher planes, came back with her as her familiar.

Of all the threats to Thia and its peoples, Daruna chose to use her power to safeguard the world against the return of the Slaughterstone, the terrifying artifact of Erythnul that had once caused the decline of the [Nation of Elves]. Unfortunately, despite all of her study and preparation, she did not foresee the irresistible mental influence that the Slaughterstone radiated when it finally emerged. Her power, rather than helping her defeat this foe, became a liability. She purposefully put herself to sleep rather than allow herself to become corrupted.

When she awoke from her magic sleep and pieced together what Cresn had done in her stead, she knew that her failure had been complete. That an entire village had to be sacrificed to prevent the Slaughterstone’s dominion over a blood-soaked world was a tragedy that she should have been able to prevent.